The Bloomin' Veggie Garden

I really love this time of the year. Every day brings new things to plant.. yesterday, I had a few hours to toil in the garden and managed to dig under a deep layer of aged manure (oxen poop this year!) and plant 15 assorted tomatoes (just the tip of the iceberg!), 4 more ten-foot long rows of peas (super sugar snap), about a dozen types of lettuce, banana potatoes, celery, onions and more.

And, as I worked, I was serenaded by the lovely buzzing of the bees and pollinating insects who were going crazy in the leftover clumps of kale/mizuna/mustards/tatsoi/mache from last winter that I allowed to flower.  The main reason that I leave these plants in the garden when they are past their eating prime is so that they early bees and other pollinators have something to sustain them if no other sources of pollen are available. I didn't get a chance to take any photos yesterday, so I just wandered up to the garden now (deadlines be damned!) to take a few photos (with my iPhone, hence the occasionally blurry image). Aren't these gorgeous?? Plus, they make nice cut flowers on the windowsill..

A 5 foot by 4 foot clump of mizuna and mustard in full bloom!

Look close.. do you see the hardworking little guy mid-photo?

Another pollinator on the top right hand side..

Red Russian kale in full bloom. Love the purple stems, green leaves and bright yellow flowers.

Red Russian kale - the immature buds are eaten like broccoli. Yum!

Here's a photo of one of the immature buds. Enjoy raw or steam/stir-fry as you would broccoli.

Mache is also in bloom. I will let a few plants go to seed and sprinkle them everywhere for a bumper crop of mache next fall/winter.

Redbor kale.. sorry for the blurry buds, I tried to get a clear shot! Gorgeous colour.. spinach in behind.

On a completely unrelated note, Alice at Ouest-Ville Perennials gave me this handy Dartmouth-made tote
a few weeks ago when I went down to West Pubnico and  lectured on year round veggie gardening. Locally made and
incredibly handy (we really gave it quite the workout the past few days). I have to say that I'm very impressed!  Here's a link if you're interested - Veggie Harvester Bag